Outcomes and reflection

 

Critically reflect on the final outcomes and wider experience of undertaking your self-negotiated project for Unit X. 

This unit x was another step towards completing the film that I intended to make many months ago and what I achieved was a further understanding of the nature of stop motion, it takes time. I'm still very far from completing a short film, for the eventual piece to be entered into film festivals. But through this unit, I've produced more content to showcase my abilities. I'm still disappointed that I haven't been able to develop the film further, but due to an infection I've been dealing with for the past five months I haven't been on my best performance. 

Starting off, working from the previous project this led me to refine the story ideas. I decided to focus on the opening scene and the flying water tower squence  which had become the iconography of the city. I started on creating the full scale model of the water tower, since my character would be interacting with it. This took many weeks and countless hours of initial sketching, designing, constructing and painting. Figuring out how to turn a concept into a physical model that can be rigged and parts that can be animated is a valuable skill and a learning experience for me. overall I think the model turned out perfectly and was a true reflection of the initial idea. 

Looping or continuous back ground sets was another thing to come from the story boarding, these were sets that continuously cycle, which can be used to give the illusion of much larger set and a stylistic choice. this looping set is a classic stop motion technique which I looked at previous examples. However my experiments with these loops were more of a test of my composting as it was about layering animation and images, using after affects to blend and animate this all together. 

Animating the water tower required me to build home engineer a rig that would support the water tower to position and animate. The rig worked for animating the static shots for the looping sets, however in my test for animating a flight path the rig wasn't suitable and which led me onto the animating via my motion control rig, which could be pre programmed and adjusted. 

this project has widen my understanding of many aspects of the stop motion process, that I can take on and use to show case my abilities for the potential studios. 

Consider how your CP3 research and the wider contextual knowledge gained from online talks/interviews, The AOI, placements and Rise projects have shaped your approach to the final unit of the third year.

My CP3 which was the motion control rig that I built and developed has been a focus throughout this past year and with this unit x project. The tool that I gained from that has complete reshaped how I animate, being able to produce smooth camera work is essential for reproducing cinematic effect that is usually out of reach for amateur  such as my self. This level of professionalism will stand out when I show off my work to potential employers or clients.  For unit x the motion control rig was especially useful for the animating of the water tower, I didn't t have access or time to build a xyz winder rig that would be used for animating a flightpath. Instead I was able to attach and program the fly paths with the motion control rig, making a professional and realistic movement, which was an idea that was from my initial research in CP3 into motion control, where the stop motion animator Edu Puertas  uses it to control the 'boring and mundane movements' in stop motion. 

In terms of talks, a particular one that comes to mind is by Tom O'meara hosted by the RCA that I went to, on the previous project. The talk  had widened my understanding of lighting technique and model making tips that I continued through unit x. The lighting is about bouncing light and never to directly light the subject, but to reflect it using a white reflector sheet above and around the subject, this evenly distributes the light, which previously I has struggled with. The model making tip that was to make everything smaller than you think you need it to be, which I can honestly say is greta advice that I continued with unit x, using this principle in my making of the water tower model. 

Consider how the project relates to your professional ambitions and the vision you have of your future practice direction.

The project it's self has always been the intention of a showreel of my work, to be the showcase of my abilities and all that I have learn over the past years. I intend to work in stop motion, so I've dedicated each project to further my understanding of stop motion. This project in particular was an exercise of model making, composting and animating. In terms of the future I want to be able to finish off this film, for the film festival season next year and hopefully I can gain some experiences working in stop motion

Expand on the potential next steps you will take towards achieving these ambitions – these might be entering film festivals, looking for internships, agents, approaching publishers, identifying additional skills you need to acquire, going on to a masters/teaching course or more broadly using the knowledge and insights gained at university to expand and develop a portfolio of work.

The next steps is to work over summer, to finish the complete film, for the intention of film festivals and the work I have currently produced can be used as a showcase I can use to show potential studios and possibly gain some experience. For the future a masters is a possibility, potentially a MA in animation at either RCA or MSoA and there has been other thought of a completely different path of study a masters of industrial design, I think I need some time to further think about my future and where I want to end up.